Windows

[Solved] Fix The Default Gateway is Not Available Error

Are you facing an error while connecting to the internet? Is it telling that the default gateway is not available? Don’t worry you are not the person facing the error? Many people are facing the same problem. They are also searching for the solution to the problem. Here is the solution to the problem. Just try restarting your router by just switching it for 5 minutes and then turn it on. This typically solves the issue.

“Default Gateway is Not Available” is a standard error faced by people, and it doesn’t allow the user to access internet and surf through the net. It is quite common for Windows users.
Here are some techniques or methods by which you can overcome the error.

Table of Contents

How to Fix Default Gateway is Not Available Error

Remove Antivirus Programs

Whenever you face this kind of error then firstly you need to uninstall the antivirus programs installed on your PC. Some antivirus programs are automatically installed onto your computer as they directly get access when you start installing a particular software such as McAfee antivirus gets installed as you install Adobe Reader. Default Gateway is Not Available. So just uninstall it.
If you don’t know how to uninstall a program don’t worry here are the steps to uninstall a program:

Just search for control panel from the search box.
Or just press Win+R and search for appwiz.cpl.

Now if you have opened control panel then click on programs and then you will have a list of apps installed on your PC.
And if you have searched for appwiz.cpl then also you get the same result.

Then select the antivirus programs installed on your computer.
Now after selection just uninstall the program.
After few steps, your program will be uninstalled.

You might also have a doubt that Windows defender should be turned off. But for your kind information, Windows defender is an inbuilt antivirus program for Windows. And if you turn off then whenever you install a software or a third party app then the app or software will be installed without any scanning for virus and increase risk for malware. So don’t turn off Windows Defender but uninstall all other antivirus software.

Update and reinstall network adapters

Now coming to the second method you need to uninstall the network drivers which are responsible for the network connectivity. After uninstalling you need to install them again for the proper functioning of the internet.

Here are the steps to uninstall your device driver:

Now just right click on the windows button (present to the extreme left of your desktop).

Select device manager from the list of options you have.
Now click on network adapters.
Select the driver you want to uninstall by just right clicking on the driver.
Now confirm your actions by clicking OK.
Your driver is uninstalled.

Here are some simple steps to update your driver:

Just search for drive quickly in your browser.
As the site opens, it tells about the drivers required in the device.
So now just go to the driver and update it.

This is the best way to update your drivers as you need not search for the driver and it also prevents from getting a wrong driver into your system.

Change the network drivers

If you are having any problem in uninstalling or updating your driver then just change the default driver.

Follow these steps to change your network adapters:

Just select device manager.
Now choose network adapters.
Select any random driver and right click on it.
Then select update driver.
Now just select “search driver from my computer” from the dialog box that appears.
You can also change the location where you want to store your drivers.

Now just click on “let me select the drivers” from the dialog box.
You can select the driver and set it as default.
Now as you have successfully changed the network adapter just close all the dialog boxes and check connecting to the internet and the issue will be solved.

Now you can try connecting to the internet, and the issue is solved. Even if you are getting the same problem, then you can try turning off the auto-login feature. Default Gateway is Not Available. This enables the user to automatically log in after PC starts (the same user who used it before switching it off). So you cannot personally turn off the feature but can just assign a password to the user. So that, every time the PC is turned on or locked it asks a password to enter so that it is safe and secure.

You can also try using the Reimage plus software which automatically scans the repositories and documents on your PC and also resolves some of them. It has been very much sufficient for this kind of errors. So using the software is a small piece of advice. Get it from here.

Disabling the Auto Logon feature

Microsoft had released this feature called Auto login ever since the days of Windows 8, which automatically logs you into the user profile which you left when the computer was last shut down. This feature is cool and convenient to have when you do not have any other users accessing the same system when you have two different profiles for two different work scenarios or something like that. But it becomes cumbersome and causes the issue where you get the error of default gateway is not available. To work around this issue, you will have to disable this auto Logon feature so to speak.

No, there is no definite way by which you can disable this feature with the flip of switch. But there is however away by which you can stop Windows from automatically logging you into the last account which you were using when you shut it down the last time. All you need to do is, set different passwords for each of the user profiles that you have on the system. This way, the system will not automatically be able to log into that profile and will have to prompt you to enter the password.

You can enter a silly password such as 123 or something else like that. It doesn’t really matter. As long as it requires something to be typed physically in order to gain access to the profile, auto Logon feature will be disabled. And will hopefully not cause the default gateway is not available issue anymore.

Let Windows pick your Network adapter’s drivers

In an earlier step in this article, you are told how to possibly change your network adaptor drivers and try to fix the default gateway is not available issue. But if that did not seem to work, you will have to install your network adaptor drivers and see if that fixes the problem.

Don’t be scared to install your network adaptor drivers and don’t think that your system will not be able to use the network properties anymore because of the absence of drivers. Windows is pretty smart, and despite what you might think, it is very robust.

It will automatically scan and install the necessary drivers required for the basic functionality of a system automatically when the system is booting up each time. So if you uninstall your network adaptors drivers now, the proper drivers will automatically be installed the next time your system reboots.

All you need to do is:

Search for device manager in Windows search by pressing Windows + S keys together.

Click on the device manager to open it.
And then, expand the network adapters option.
In the entry that you see below the network adapters, right click on the network adapter that you seem to be using right now, which should only be one entry.
And from the context menu, click on the uninstall option.
Confirm the warning prompt which shows up next.
After your network adapters have pin all installed, you need to restart your computer.

Once the computer restarts, as I mentioned earlier, the network adapter will be detected and the relevant drivers will be reinstalled automatically. If the problem was caused by a faulty network adapter driver, then installing and automatically installing them should hopefully fix the default gateway is not available issue.

Change the Channel of Wireless Router

In case you are using wireless router with dual bands, then the issue be that one band may not properly be recognized as a valid gateway in your Windows system. So, changing the channel of a wireless router might help you to get rid of the default gateway is not available if you’re on your computer.

Some users who tried this reported that changing the dual channel settings to channel 6 seemed to fix Gateway not available issue for them. But I encourage you to try other combinations is well because not all Windows systems are problematic in the same way.

Change Power Saving Mode of Wireless Adapter

Speaking of the wireless adapters issues, you should also try to change the power saving mode of the adapter. And see if it makes any difference on the Gateway not available issue of the system.

Just search power options in the windows query box by pressing Windows + S keys together.
In power options you should search for the current power plan and then click on the change plans settings option.
When you are in the change settings for the plan window then simplify concert change advanced power settings link that you see below.

There, you need to locate wireless adapter settings option and then work on it. You have to set it to maximum performance and then click apply.
Then, click OK and reboot your system.
After it boots back up, see if the default gateway not available for windows issue has been fixed.

Set Wireless Mode to 802.11g

The same smart people who pointed out that changing the router’s channel might help get rid of the Gateway not available issue also said that we should try to change the wireless mode of a router from the default to 802.11g.

To do that, you need to open network connections by pressing on the windows + X keys and selecting the option from the menu.
In the network connections Windows, you need to search for your wireless network adapter and then right click on it.

From the context menu, choose the properties option. In the properties window, click on the configure button.
Then, go to advanced tab and then select the wireless mode option.
There, from the drop down menu, you need to select 802.11g and save the changes.
Reboot your system once again and check if the default gateway not available problem has been resolved.

So, these were some of the finest ways by which you could hopefully fix the default gateway not available issue on your Windows computer. Go through this article completely and make sure you try them all. Now, increase the chances of fixing the issue on your PC. Best of luck!